Manufacture of hydraulic cement products



J1me 1947- G. L. EASTERBERG ETAL 2,422,344

MANUFACTURE OF HYDRAULIC CEMENT PRODUCTS I Filed Aug. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS STE/98596 M04? THU/7 GUST/1V5 L. 24

June 17, 1947. G. EASTERBERG ET AL 2,422,344

MANUFACTURE OF HYDRAULIC CEMENT PRODUCTS Filed Aug. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllilI/lllll IIIIIIIIIIII INVENTORS 6057;41/5 L. 54372778536 R0667? AcAfiTHU/i' layer.

. Patented June 17, 1947 MANUFACTURE or HYDRAULIC CEMENT raonoc'rs Gustave L. Easterberg, Pleasant Ridge, and Roger A. MacArthur, Wyoming, Ohio, assignors to The Philip Carey Manufacturing Company, a

corporation of Ohio Application August 2, 1940, Serial No. 349,835

, 4Claims.

This invention relates to water laid laminated sheet products and the method'oi making same,

made from composition materials capabl of setting and becoming hard after being formed in sheets, slabs or other shapes. More particularly, the invention relates to the manufacture of cement-asbestos products,,such as shingles, sidings, sheathing, and the like, which may be structural or decorative, or both. These products are commonly made from a plastic mass of Portland cement and asbestos, with or without other material included therein, and may be made fiat, corrugated or in other suitable forms.

Most of the cement-asbestos sidings and shingle products now made have a colored veneer layer on the face intended to be exposed to the weather in order to provide for decoration, the veneer layer being made with a variety of colors and textures. It is more economical to provide a colored veneer layer than to color the products throughout their thickness. Shingle and siding products are, however, exposed o the weather and the veneering should, there re, be sufficiently durable to last the life of the products, that is, for the life of the buildings on which they are'placed. The veneer layer usually-needs to be .015 inch or more thick to avoid darkening or turning gray by reason of the co- 'for hydration of the cement and curing theveneer layer is abstracted from the base material. *Uniform'spread of the dry veneer mixture is difflcult to obtain, particularly if any substantial amount of asbestos fibers is contained therein, and an excessive amount of the dry mixture needs to be applied to avoid any thin spots in the veneer Without a substantial amount 01 asbestos fibers included, cracks appear in the veneer on exposure to the weather and eitherpermit the base material to show through the veneer or become filled with dirt, thereby giving the surface a crazed appearance. tion of a veneer layer is commonly, used with the modified Fourdrinier type of sheet forming machine.

This method or applica- In addition to the Fourdrinier type of wet machine for forming wet-laid laminated sheet products, the cylinder machine is in common use. This machine commonly includes a series of several sheet-forming cyiinders'ior picking up stock and forming it into a sheet which is transferred to a felt, as shown in the drawings and described below. i In order to apply acolored surface layer to a, base sheet of, for exampie,'cementasbestos products, one cylinder applies the colored layer to the base formed by the remaining cylinders. color veneer of only about .007 to .009 inch thickness. This layer is too thin to be satisfactory as a surface layer on, for example, cement-asbestos shingles, as th color of the base shows through, particularly when the shingl is wet, and the layer rather quickly weathers thin and exposes the base. In order to overcome the disadvantages of a thin. color layer, it is necessary to provide two cylinders applying color layers. Th' se ylinders are very expensive, thus increasing greatly the cost of the machine. There is a disadvantage of even more economic importance in the use of one or twocylinders for application of color layers. Owing to the cost of pigmented cement-asbestos mixtures, it is economically necessary that the area of color layer applied be only sufficient to cover the surface of thesheet. While the base layers are being formed by the cylinders, the color cylinders are washed with a water spray, and thus ar not in productive use except for a small fraction of the time when applying color. This is of great economic disadvantage.

The aim of the present invention is to provide veneer layers'having none of the defects set forth above and have them wet-laid upon the cement base material, with both the wet-laid veneer and the base material having had excess water removed to such a degree as to make them sufilciently dry to prevent intermixture oi and discoloration of the veneer by the base stock. This, method of applying the veneer .is not only more economical but provides an improved product as to structural integrity; and serviceability. The base and/or the wet-laid veneer, may"be subjected to suction or squeezing pressure," or

both, to'dry them to the desired degree.

For a better understanding of the invention reference -is made to the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a Fourdrinier machine constructedto embody the invention and the slurry box feed for the base materi showing the veneer slurry box ieed'fclo One cylinder is capable of applying a a Fig. 4 is a perspective, view of the slurry box feed with a portion of the endless conveyor web adjacent to it; and v Fig. 5 is a schematic side view of a cylinder machine constructed to embody the invention.

Referring specifically to the drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like parts,

ther is disclosed a modified Fourdrinier machine comprising an endless conveyor belt I disposed to rotate about spaced apart rolls 2 in' a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrows (Fig. l). Disposed beneath the path of the conveyor are any number of suction boxes 8 and 4. These suction boxes are of the conventional type withrolls 5 mounted therein. A discharge conduit 6 is provided for carrying away the water which is removed from the composition products manufactured. Near one of the rolls 2, the endless conveyor may advantageously be looped about rolls 1 and 8 to facilitate washing and cleaning the conveyor felt. In the area between the rolls land 8, a water nozzle 9 is disposed for ejecting water against the felt to I wash and remove therefrom any of the composition material clinging thereto. Near the water nozzle is a vibrator 9' in the form of a paddle revolving to beat against the endless belt and help in loosening and shaking out the composition material clinging to the conveyor.

A dilute suspension of slurry of Portland cemerit and asbestos fiber composition I0 is fed from a source of supply in container ll over a ;preader plate l2 into a bottomless U.-shaped frame 13 disposed above and widthwise of the conveyor felt to build up a layer of any desired thickness. The frame has a chamber l4 within the confines of its walls, and the open end is provided with agate l5 which is adapted to be raised and lowered by handle I6. The gate is raised to any desired width or height to predetermine the thickness of the layer of composition material to be fed upon the felt conveyor. Adjacent the frame l3, another container I1 is disposed for feeding on the felt conveyor the veneer material l8. The bottom edge of end I!) is spaced from-the bottom 20 to provide a discharge outlet 2| through which the veneer material is fed over a spreader ledge 22. Asso-' ciated with this discharge outlet is a gate 23 adapted to be movedupwardly and downwardly to open and shut the discharge opening.

The veneer material is discharged from the container when the gate on the main supply container is partially closed, and the gate of the main container is fully opened when the supply container for the veneer material is closed. Thus thegates may be advantageously operated by a common lever mechanism 24 disposed to be actuated by the same handle l6 that is used to operate" the gate in the'frame member, although we do not wish to be -=Iimited to this particular 'method of control since other arrangements for manipulating the gates can obviously be used.

The veneer supply material and the mainsupplyfxiiaterial of asbestos cement material are conveniently positioned at points above the suction devices 'in'order that the base cement-asbestos layer inay have a substantial quantity of the free water content removed before the veneer matespirit of the invention.

rial is applied. The veneer material the baselayer at a point over the suction boxes so that a substantial quantity of the free water content is also immediately removed; This P vents any substantial intermingling of the veneer material with that in the base layer.

In applying the veneer layer the base sheet is reduced to less than its normal thickness (Fig. 2)

having only a thin'film 25. This is effected by having the gate only slightly opened. superposed on thisthin base film 25, is the veneer layer 26 which is applied over a length of the base sheet controlled by thebar 28 vertically disposed above v the conveyor.

The veneered base sheet is fed to the accumulator roll where it is wrapped thereon with a sufficient number of laminations so that a composite sheet of any desired thickness is formed; The

veneer layer, it will be noted, contacts with the surface of the accumulator roll and the nonveneered portion of the sheet is wrapped thereabout. As soon as one desired build-up is formed on the accumulator roll, it is cut and removed, and another wrapping operation is repeated.

The accumulator roll is mounted in bearings 28' movable in slots 29 in the pedestals 30. A spring 3| is inserted between. one end wall of the slot to resiliently holdthe roll against the endless felt conveyor. One of the rolls 2 is conveniently disposed adjacent to the accumulator roll so that the formed sheet and the laminations wrapped about the roll are continuously compressed so that free water is being pressed from the sheet until it is taken from the accumulator roll.

The modification in Fig. 5 shows the invention applied to the cylinder type of machine, with advantageous results similar to those obtained on the modified Fourdrinier machine. The manner of applying the veneer to the base sheet is the same as that above described in reference to the Fourdrinier type. The base sheet is builtup or formed on the felt conveyor by any number of cylinder rolls 32, each associated with a container filled with a suspension of slurry or Portland cement and asbestos fiber. Onelamination.

sheet to be fed about the accumulator roll will be built up to the thickness desired. In this way it is clearly seen that'at least one, and generally two, expensive cylinders may be'dispensed with,

the colorlayer being applied by the economical means of our invention.

While specific means have been described in detail for carrying out the invention, there may be various changes without departing from the is applied to We claim:

1. The method of fabricating a water-laidveneered sheet comprising forming a water-laid base layer of hydraulic cement-fiber material sheet of the desired thickness.

2. A method of making hydraulic cement ma terial comprising forming a layer of hydraulic cement material on a felt conveyor, water-laying a thin veneer of cement-fiber composition of contrastingcolor on the cement layer, and applying suction to the felt concurrently with flowing the veneer material on the cement layer to substantially dewater said layer of hydraulic cement material and said veneer material to prevent substantial intermingling'of the veneer material in the cement layer.

3. The method of fabricating a water-laid veneered sheet comprising forming a water-laid base layer of hydraulic cement-fiber material from a fluid slurry containing water, fiber and cement, removing a substantial quantity of free water from the base layer to render same'semiplastic, applying a Water, fiber and cement slurry of contrasting color to form a water-laid veneer layer on the base layer while said base layer has a substantialquantity of free Water removed and while said base layer is being subjected to suction to prevent substantial intermingling of the veneer layer with the base layer, and compressing the veneered base layer to integrate the veneer with the base layer.

'4; A method of making hydraulic cement mavterial comprising water-laying an aqueous slurry of hydraulic cement material upon a felt conveyor to form a base layer, water-laying a thin veneer of cement-fiber composition of contrasting color on the cement base layer, and applying suction to the felt concurrently with flowing the veneer material on the cement layer to substantially dewater said cement base layer and said veneer material to prevent substantial intermingling of the'veneer material in the cement layer.

GUSTAVE L. EASTERBERG.

ROGER A. MACARTHUR.

REFERENCE CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES'PATENTS Number Date I Name 2,184,619 Leonard Dec. 26, 1939 1,181,542 Pope May 2, 1916 Re. 20,667 Sale Mar. 8, 1938 2,098,733 Sale Nov. 9, 1937 2,062,445 Charlton 'Dec. 1, 1936 1,790,822 Ledeboer Feb. 3, 1931 1,829,187 Piessevaux Oct. 27, 1931 940,449 Ferla Nov. 16, 1909 1,140,601 Lappen May 25, 1915 1,143,931 Babcock June 22, 1915 1,463,961 Ledeboer Aug; 7, 1923 1,687,681 Mattison Oct. 16, 1928 1,804,560 Hussey May 12, 1931 1,880,692 Berry Oct. 4, 1932 2,018,382 Sale Oct. 22, 1935 2,177,642 Ferla Oct. 31, 1939 Re. 12,594 Hatschek Jan. 15, 1907 840,387 Sillman Jan. 1, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 692,311 France Nov. 4, 1930 

